It's going to be hard to hold Joe Polakowski back this cross country season.

The Mentor sophomore tried to follow his coach's plan of running in a pack with his teammates for the first mile of the Cleveland Running Club Invitational at South High School on Saturday morning.

But as hard as he tried, Polakowski kept pushing forward.

He was just about to take off and dominate the race when coach Bill Dennison asked him to hold back and help his teammates. Polakowski didn't hesitate to slow down. He regrouped with his teammates and waited until the second mile to bring home a first-place finish.

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He won in 17:05. His teammates Wade Elmore took second in 17:14 and Brandon Stoldt placed third in 17:30. The Cardinals swept seven of the top eight finishes to win a team championship with 17 points.

"I think a lot of schools fall short on the team aspect of racing," Dennison said. "We have been working on that in practice and early meets, then we let them go midseason.

"I wanted Joe to run with his team so when he tries to go for it later in the season, he doesn't have to worry about them. He will know they will be out there working properly."

Polakowski and Stoldt are the only returning varsity runners from last year's team, which placed eighth in Division I at state. The Cardinals have no seniors in their top seven this season.

"We feed off of each other," Polakowski said. "When your team is around, it helps you a lot. I hope we learn from it for the future and keep it up."

The Mentor girls, who were 12th at state a year ago in Division I, finished second in team standings with 69 points. Nordonia won the championship (36) and North Royalton took third (96).

Junior Kinsey Robinson was the Cardinals' top finisher in fifth place (19:40). The team's No. 1 runner dropped out of the race after the second mile last year.

"I was having mental issues and throwing up last year," she said. "I was nervous. It was important for me to come out today and run well. I think it really helped get rid of the bad memories from last year."

Rounding out the top three for the Cardinals were sisters Maddie and Jenny Mulhall. Maddie Mulhall was 13th (21:26) and Jenny Mulhall was 14th (21:27).

Geneva junior Emily Deering, who ran cross country for the first time last year, used a solid kick to win the girls race in 19:30.30. Jaimie Adams of Padua was second in 19:30.60.

"I'm a sprinter at heart in track so I think most of the time, my endings are my fastest," Deering said. "A lot of speed training at Mentor has also helped."

Geneva and Mentor have been training as a group this season. Dennison welcomed the Geneva runners after meeting them at his Greater Cleveland Cross Country Camp this summer.

"Geneva doesn't have a lot of numbers, so it's nice for them to have someone to run with," Dennison said. "It makes running feel like a community. It reminds me of how I felt the GCC (Greater Cleveland Conference) used to be when I was in high school."

The Eagles finished seventh in girls team standings with 178 points. North was sixth (169). Sydnie Schwenk was the Rangers' top finisher in 11th place (21:03).